Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha speaks on television Thursday evening.
BANGKOK — Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha urged the public to wear mourning clothes for a period of one year to mourn the death of His Majesty the King in a televised address Thursday evening.
The Prime Minister’s Office earlier announced at 7:03pm that stating that flags will be flown at half-mast for 30 days.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej at Siriraj Hospital in a file photo.
BANGKOK — King Bhumibol Adulyadej, an obscure princeling born afar who became patriarch of Thailand, died Thursday in Bangkok at 88, ending his unprecedented reign of 70 years.
Years of poor health during which His Majesty was mostly confined to Siriraj Hospital, away from the eyes of a public which kept looking for him to be a unifying figure in his riven kingdom, ended at 3:52pm, according to a statement by the Royal Household Bureau. It did not specify a cause of death.
“Although the team of doctors have provided close care and treatment to their utmost ability, his illness did not subside and only worsened,” the statement said.
Bhumibol, whose reign began in 1946 as the ninth in his dynasty, had not been seen publicly in 10 months. The deterioration of his health in recent years had been a source of prolonged anxiety for a nation where he was widely revered as demigod.
For much of the past year, his illness grew worse with frequent reports he was suffering from failing organs and excessive fluid in his brain. His condition appeared to deteriorate sharply on Oct. 9, following a hemodialysis procedure to cleanse his blood.
News of his condition brought crowds of people to assemble outside the hospital to pray for his recovery. News of his death Thursday night was met with sobbing, silence and singing. Many continued singing Sansoen Phra Barami, the well-known royal anthem.
“I no longer want to do anything else in my life. I didn’t prepare for this,” Malee Siriphan, 51, Bangkok, said through her tears. “He wasn’t even 90 years old.”
She said she could not accept his death.
“I will sit right here until he walks down,” she said.
On Wednesday evening, the King’s children including Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, who flew back from Munich, converged on the hospital for several hours.
Bhumibol passed away in the year Thailand marked the 70th anniversary of his ascension to the throne. No other king in Thai history ruled so long, and up until his death, Bhumibol was considered the world’s longest-reigning monarch among his contemporaries.
Bhumibol, who’s also known as Rama IX of House Chakri, is survived by his 84-year-old wife, Queen Sirikit, and his four children: Ubolratana Rajakanya, Sirindhorn, Chulabhorn Walailak and Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn, to whom the throne is set to pass.
Born in the United States in 1927 to a little-known nobleman, Bhumibol evolved from the younger years as a secluded, Western-educated, jazz-loving college boy in Switzerland to a reluctant king in Thailand where a democratic revolution decades earlier stripped the monarchy of its traditional glory.
The Cold War later turned him into an adept politician who survived numerous coups and Communist insurgency before he attained the deification as the saintly father figure in his later years.
‘I will sit right here until he walks down,’ Malee Siriphan, 51 of Bangkok, at left, said through tears Thursday evening.
One biographer called him the king who never smiled, in reference to the quest of national salvation Bhumibol believed he was undertaking, which made him come across as a stern leader with rare displays of emotion.
In a rare, English-language interview with the BBC in 1980, King Bhumibol was asked if he was lonely while he was working hard in the countryside for his people.
“That is a question that can be answered in many ways. I am not lonely and I have work to do, so I have to do work,” Bhumibol said.
News of Bhumibol’s passing reached newsrooms across the country through unofficial palace channels at around 2pm, and words of his death soon spread to social media, but the palace only confirmed the news at 6:50pm.
His death followed a long period of silence from Bhumibol – the late king last appeared publicly Dec. 14 – and increasing anxiety among his royal subjects, few of whom have known any other king.
People mourn the passage of King Bhumibol Adulyadej outside Siriraj Hospital on Thursday in Bangkok.
Nation in Mourning
In the later years of Bhumibol’s reign, discussion of the monarchy went from a sensitive subject to outright taboo. Royal defamation is a crime, and since seizing power in 2014, the military has prosecuted it broadly and aggressively.
Thailand is little prepared for the momentous implications of His Majesty’s passing, as there was no public discussion of the imminent event for fear of prosecution by the authorities.
‘I no longer want to do anything else in my life. I didn’t prepare for this’ – Malee Siriphan, 51
What is known is that the nation is expected to mourn his passing for months to come, with entertainment and other important events postponed or canceled altogether. Per tradition, he will lie in state in an urn-shaped coffin at the Grand Palace, where prayers will be recited day and night.
After a long period of lying in state, King Bhumibol will be transported in an elaborate procession to the historic Royal Cremation Field, or Sanam Luang, for funerary rites.
Additional reporting and photos Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Sasiwan Mokkhasen, Todd Ruiz
Well-wishers gather for a second day on Oct. 13, 2016 to pray for King Bhumibol at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Hundreds gathered Thursday at Siriraj Hospital to pray and express their wishes for His Majesty the King’s recovery.
Most were wearing pink and yellow, a color associated in Thai belief with King Bhumibol, as he was born on a Monday. Pink is considered astrologically auspicious for the King and his health.
People recited prayers, held candles, burned incense and laid garlands in front of a statue to hospital patron and father to the king, Mahidol Adulyadej. Some waved royal and national Thai flags, while others brought pictures of the king from their homes and posed for photos.
Well-wishers gather to pray Thursday at Siriraj Hospital.
BANGKOK — Government spokesman Lt. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd denied Thursday that the interim cabinet would hold a special meeting at 5pm after word of it spread on social media.
When asked whether the palace would issue any statement later Thursday afternoon regarding His Majesty the King’s health, the spokesman declined to comment. “I should not be answering this question,” he said.
BANGKOK — For the first time ever in Thailand, Axl and Slash and the rest of Gun N’ Roses will welcome audiences to their jungle early next year, Viji Corp announced Thursday afternoon.
Teaser poster of Gun N’ Roses concert in Bangkok. Photo: Viji Corp / Facebook.
The concert promoter released a teaser poster in the afternoon announcing that Guns N’ Roses would hit Bangkok on their “Not in This Lifetime” tour on Feb. 28. More details will be released later.
It’s been 30 years since the band broke out from regular gigs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and put out albums such as 1987’s “Appetite for Destruction,” and “Use Your Illusion I and II” in the early 90s.
Band members went their separate ways in 1993, but most of the original members reunited earlier this year at Coachella where die-hard fans were delighted at the sight of founding fathers Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan on the same stage.
The “Not In This Lifetime” tour kicked off in April 2016 in North America.
Police commandos on Monday raid a building in Bangkok as part of a counterterrorism operation.
BANGKOK — A civil rights watchdog called on the military government Thursday to say how many people were arrested during a counterterrorism operation in the capital on Tuesday.
Police said Thursday that 10 people were being held by the military in connection with a plot to bomb Suvarnabhumi Airport and other landmarks, but a regional coordinator for Human Rights Watch said the number could be as high as 33.
“There are concerns that the number of people in military custody is higher than what they said,” activist Sunai Phasuk said by telephone. “If that is true, this is a case of arbitrary arrest and secret detention.”
Sunai said his organization was told by Permas, a student federation based in the southern border provinces, that up to 33 people from there were arrested in Bangkok between Monday and Wednesday.
Lt. Gen. Decha Chauibunchum, the police official in charge of intelligence, declined to comment on the claim. He referred questions to deputy police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul.
Someone answering Srivara’s phone said he was unavailable.
Lt. Gen. Srivara told reporters earlier Thursday of the 10 arrests, said to be during Tuesday raids on multiple locations in Bangkok. The operation followed an intelligence warning that unspecified militants were plotting the attacks.
He said all 10 suspects were in military custody but would not identify them or say where they were being held.
Sunai from Human Rights Watch said the authorities must be transparent about these arrests.
“The government must account for these people,” Sunai said. “Where are they? What are their charges? And the government must give assurance that they will not receive ill treatment. The government can’t simply say the military have them. That’s not enough.”
Under special authority granted by the junta, the military can detain individuals for interrogation at army bases up to seven days at a time without a warrant.
Well-wishers gather for a second day on Thursday to pray for King Bhumibol at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — Unlike hundreds of well-wishers who gathered to pray outside Siriraj Hospital on Thursday morning, Thanaporn Sitthiworasilp wore neither pink nor yellow. The 22-year-old said she and her mother rushed there that morning on a mission to distribute 1,000 copies of Buddhist prayers they believed could help His Majesty’s longevity.
Since anxiety about King Bhumibol’s health began roiling the country Wednesday afternoon, the sophomore student admitted she and her family have tried to stay hopeful.
“Right now even he’s still with us, we still have conflict in our country,” she said. “Without him, the situation could be worse.”
When they left home in the morning, they didn’t discuss any further possibilities beyond the point of getting to the hospital to distribute copies of the prayers to those without access to the internet.
They weren’t alone. Several hundred others gathered in a park by a statue of the king’s father, where they turned to face the building where 88-year-old Bhumibol has spent much of the past seven years. Also at the hospital were His Majesty’s children, who arrived in the late afternoon.
For the seven decades he has been on the throne, Bhumibol, the longest reigning king in the world today, has been regarded as a unifying force for the country.
While anxiety was reflected in the financial markets, the well-wishers camped out at Siriraj Hospital on Thursday remained calm and hopeful.
Some of those gathered to pray, especially the seniors, said that was because no news was broadcast by television, which they believe the most credible source.
“There was no news on the television, and the prime minister didn’t speak. That means he is still fine,” said Renu Sayasewee, who has been praying since Wednesday afternoon.
The 69-year-old retired teacher said she did hear worrying things over the Line chat app, so she decided to come to the hospital herself to see for herself that everything was normal.
She said that she once tried to imagine a future of the country after the era of “the greatest human alive,” but found it too discouraging to think about.
“I don’t know how the future of the our little children will be after his era,” said Kanokporn Wiratchalarp, who came from the northern province of Uttaradit and sat next to Renu.
While few Thais can have known any monarch other than Bhumibol, who over the course of his reign came to assume a patriarchal role for the nation, information or discussion of the future has been all but forbidden by taboo.
Looking up to the 16th floor room where the king was staying was a 55-year-old Bangkok man, Yod, who refused to give his last name due to the fear of repercussions. He said that he wondered what was going on up there.
He said officials should issue information to dispel doubts.
“The palace should give some pictures or footage to reporters, so the public can see that he’s doing well,” he said. “It’s better than leaving people with their imaginations. And it will also help dismiss the rumors.”
Yod said he could not sleep last night and ended up taking a sleeping pill at 2am
The man believed he could transfer a year of his own life to extend the king’s longevity said that, in the end, he is a Buddhist who always prepares for loss.
“Even the Buddha finally had to go,” he said. “I can accept it.”
Well-wishers gather for a second day on Thursday to pray for King Bhumibol at Siriraj Hospital ...
Well-wishers gather for a second day on Oct. 13 to pray for King Bhumibol at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok.
BANGKOK — The government Thursday ordered a hunt for the person they said spread false rumors about His Majesty the King’s health condition which coincided with declines on the stock market.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak blamed rumors for the losses and urged the public to be confident in the national economy and not fall prey to any rumors. Somkid said although all Thais were concerned about the health of King Bhumibol, they should only listen to official statements from the government. Somkid said there are people who were exploiting the rumors for financial gain.
The move came one day after Prime Minister Prayuth canceled his travels to meet the Crown Prince upon arrival back in Thailand. Prince Vajiralongkorn joined his siblings at Siriraj Hospital where His Majesty has been hospitalized for most of the past seven years.
The markets had been trading down since Monday after the palace issued a statement that the king’s health could not be stabilized, a condition unchanged in a similar notice published Wednesday evening.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand dropped 2.5 percent Wednesday to close at 1,406. By Thursday afternoon, it was down another 2 percent, posting losses of another 29 points.
The customizable profile picture maker that allows users to add their name before a sentence reading “love the King, long live the King.”
BANGKOK — Thais were flooding social media with an outpouring of love and concern Thursday for HM King after news of his health condition reached the general public.
Many users showed digital tributes by changing their profile pictures to a personalized pink-and-yellow image in which a name could be added before a sentence reading “love the King, long live the King.”
The profile picture maker, designed by Facebook user Kulthida Rotchanawit, mushroomed in use by many Thais – including Princess Ubolratana and celebrity Araya Alberta “Chompoo” Hargate.
Yellow is considered to be HM King Bhumibol’s color, since he was born on a Monday. In Thai culture days of the week are each assigned a special color.
Pink is considered to be an astrologically auspicious color for the King and his health. On occasions in which he exited the hospital, he has often been photographed wearing pink.
Nitis Pokavattana, 22, a graduate from Mahidol University’s Faculty of Science, changed his profile picture to show his love.
“When I heard last night that [the King]’s health was in an unstable condition, I decided to change my profile picture to show that I love the King. I felt concerned, and still do today,” he said. “A lot of my friends on my newsfeed changed their profile pictures too. Others uploaded pictures of the king on their wall.”
The number one trending Twitter hashtag since yesterday has been #WeLoveTheKing, written in Thai.
In this Aug. 24, 2007, file photo, His Majesty the King signed an endorsement for the 2007 constitution draft at Chitlada Palace in Bangkok. Image: Royal Household Bureau.
BANGKOK — A government spokesman said Thursday he’s hoping that His Majesty the King would have recovered from his chronic illness by the time the new constitution is ready for official promulgation.
The confidence was voiced in spite of a palace statement saying doctors at Siriraj Hospital had advised King Bhumibol, 88, to refrain from any royal works due to a number of illnesses besetting him. The latest update on his health Wednesday night said the monarch’s condition was still unstable.
“We can wait for His Majesty to recover first,” said Amorn Wanichwiwatana, spokesman of the constitution drafting committee, Thursday by telephone. “By that time, we hope, he would have recovered.”
“It won’t affect the process,” he added.
According to the junta’s roadmap for the return to a democratic regime, the new charter, which was approved by a landslide vote in an August referendum, would have to be formally endorsed by the King in November. A general election is expected to be held late next year.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Kreangam told reporters Wednesday the government hopes to submit the constitution to HM King on Nov. 9.
Constitutional law requires the King to endorse the document within 30 days after it is submitted to him, Wissanu said.
The Nov. 9 date is feasible, Amorn said. Government scribes need about a month to manually write the constitution on traditional Thai manuscripts known as samut thai anyway, he said.
“It will take us a month, because we need to write three copies of samut thai,” Amorn said.
The palace said in a statement Wednesday night that King Bhumibol’s liver showed abnormal signs, and that his condition remained unstable. The king has spent much of the last seven years at Siriraj Hospital.
